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Santa Barbara, California climate

Csb Warm-summer Mediterranean

Santa Barbara has a mildly seasonal mild-temperate climate (Warm-summer Mediterranean, Köppen Csb). The hottest month is August with an average daily high near 25°C, while the coldest is December averaging around 8°C at night. Precipitation totals about 482 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — January alone averages 113 mm while July barely receives 0 mm.

☀️ Summers

Mild

Highs near 25°C in August.

About 5 days a year above 32 °C

❄️ Winters

Cool

Lows near 8°C in December.

🌧️ Rain

Fairly dry

About 482 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in January

⛅ Sky & trend

Fairly sunny

More sun than cloud through the year.

+0.8 °C vs 50 years ago

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Clear vs cloudy days

Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day counts

Santa Barbara climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	19	19	20	22	22	23	25	25	25	24	22	19
Avg temp (°C)	14	14	15	16	17	18	20	21	20	19	16	13
Avg low (°C)	8	9	10	11	12	14	16	16	15	13	10	8
Precipitation (mm)	113	112	81	26	10	4	0	0	1	21	36	78

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	19	19	20	22	22	23
Avg temp (°C)	14	14	15	16	17	18
Avg low (°C)	8	9	10	11	12	14
Precipitation (mm)	113	112	81	26	10	4

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	25	25	25	24	22	19
Avg temp (°C)	20	21	20	19	16	13
Avg low (°C)	16	16	15	13	10	8
Precipitation (mm)	0	0	1	21	36	78

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	7	7	6	3	2	2	0.3	0.4	0.9	2	3	5
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	—	—	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.4	1	2	0.3	—
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	0.1	0.2	0.0	—	0.0	—	0.0	—	—	0.2	0.0	0.0

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	7	7	6	3	2	2
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	—	—	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.2
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	0.1	0.2	0.0	—	0.0	—

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	0.3	0.4	0.9	2	3	5
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	0.3	0.4	1	2	0.3	—
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	0.0	—	—	0.2	0.0	0.0

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	47	47	45	37	34	29	25	21	24	28	36	44
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	12	10	11	14	16	17	21	24	20	19	15	13
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	10	9	12	11	12	11	9	6	8	8	10	11
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	9	9	8	5	3	2	1	0.7	2	4	5	8
Relative humidity (%)	66	69	69	62	54	43	38	36	41	47	55	63
Wind speed (km/h)	3.8	3.8	3.5	3.5	3.0	2.8	2.4	2.6	2.8	3.3	3.7	4.0

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	47	47	45	37	34	29
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	12	10	11	14	16	17
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	10	9	12	11	12	11
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	9	9	8	5	3	2
Relative humidity (%)	66	69	69	62	54	43
Wind speed (km/h)	3.8	3.8	3.5	3.5	3.0	2.8

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	25	21	24	28	36	44
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	21	24	20	19	15	13
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	9	6	8	8	10	11
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	1	0.7	2	4	5	8
Relative humidity (%)	38	36	41	47	55	63
Wind speed (km/h)	2.4	2.6	2.8	3.3	3.7	4.0

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Santa Barbara (NOAA GHCN station USC00047902), about 1 km from the city centre.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →